1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic gaming machines and more particularly to a method and apparatus for integrating secondary bonusing schemes within primary gaming machines coupled to an external control system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Casinos typically include electronic gaming machines (EGMs) such as slot machines and video poker machines. Slot machines, for example, usually include three reels that each have a plurality of symbols printed thereon. After the player applies a wager to the machine, he or she starts play by triggering a switch that starts the reels spinning. Each reel stops at a random position and thereby presents three symbols—one from each reel. Some combinations of symbols do not pay any jackpot. Others pay varying amounts according to predetermined combinations that appear in a pay table displayed on the machine and stored in the gaming machine's programmable read-on memory (PROM).
Competition for players among electronic gaming machines is tight and the industry is developing different methods for attracting and keeping players at their machines. Current slot machines have been known to incorporate a second video screen controlled by the machine itself to display bonus sequences. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,319,125 (the '125 patent) and 5,655,961 (the '961 patent), owned in common with the present application and specifically incorporated herein by reference, disclose complex examples of bonusing implemented over a network. However, the need exists for centrally configurable bonusing that can be tailored to the specific player rather than generic schemes controlled only by the slot machine electronics.